


Learning How to Receive Loving

by ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Awkward Kiss, Lizard Kissin' Tuesday (Penumbra Podcast), M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Non-traditional intimacy, Other, Second Citadel (Penumbra Podcast), Tenderness, monster kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:54:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28097241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/pseuds/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand
Summary: Arum cannot kiss the way his humans do.
Relationships: Lord Arum/Sir Damien (Penumbra Podcast), Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla (Penumbra Podcast)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	Learning How to Receive Loving

**Author's Note:**

> written for anonymous on tumblr for the prompt "awkward kiss"
> 
> title from 1978 by Anjimile

It takes them a while to get it right. It isn’t difficult for the humans, to reach up on tiptoes and press their lips to the underside of Arum’s jaw, to tug him down and pepper kisses over his cheeks, his snout, on the delicate scales beneath his eyes. For Arum, though, it is more complicated. His mouth is more rigid, more structured than the humans’ soft and delicate lips, and filled with much sharper teeth besides.

It’s more complicated for Arum, to mimic the affectionate acts of his humans. But he _wants_ to. He wants to kiss them, wants to show his love in this impossibly intimate, physical way that they seems to enjoy. And so, one day, when he walks into Amaryllis’s hut and finds Damien seated at the dining room table, he walks up and ghosts a hand over the poet’s back, and when Damien breaks from his concentration to turn his gaze upward with a bright, joyous smile, Arum leans down to meet him, opening his mouth slightly as his lips meet Damien’s.

Damien opens his mouth in surprise, sighing a small _oh_ against him, until their teeth scrape against each other and Arum flinches away. Damien pulls away, blinking, and Arum stands straight again, trying to suppress the growl rising in his chest. Damien’s brow furrows, “My lily, I’m-“

“Don’t. _Apologize_.” Arum snaps, though there is no real heat to his words. Arum forces himself to visibly relax his frame. He will not make this _worse_ by making Damien feel as though he is _angry_ at anyone other than himself.

Damien makes a sort of sympathetic noise, and then one of his hands tangles with Arum’s own, and he tugs Arum gently down to sit beside him on the bench. Arum carefully does not meet the little knight’s gaze, staring pointedly at their hands, now intertwined in his lap. Damien’s thumb presses into the back of his palm, making his claws flex gently. Arum can’t help the noise he makes when he feels Damien’s lips brush against his forehead, and his eyes scrunch shut even as he leans into the touch.

Damien’s fingers follow his lips, tracing gently over Arum’s face as he murmurs. “You do not have to kiss us for us to know that you love us, my lily.”

Arum huffs, a low growl rumbling from his chest. “I _want_ to- I want-“

He cuts himself off, and leans forward, bumping his snout gently against Damien’s cheek before resting his forehead on his shoulder, nuzzling into the poet’s neck and inhaling his scent. His eyes snap open when Damien’s shoulder begins to tremble slightly. He sits back up, narrowing his eyes as he realizes, “You- stop _laughing_ at me.”

Damien’s eyes are sparkling, his shoulders still shaking with barely suppressed mirth as he replies, “I- my apologies, dear heart, it is only that- you already _do_. You’ve just kissed me, in your own way. I believe you have already solved your own problem.”

“I- _what?”_ Arum shakes his head, blinking in baffled confusion as the poet continues to giggle softly, his laugh like the soft tinkling of a wind chime in a summer breeze.

Damien quirks a smile at him and shifts slightly, leaning up as though moving to kiss him again. But, instead of kissing him, Damien gently bumps his nose against Arum’s cheek, and Arum sucks in a breath, feeling his frill flair around his neck at the unexpected intimacy of the gesture.

“You love us,” Damien murmurs again, shifting so that he can lean his forehead against Arum’s. “And you’ve found your own ways to tell us. Your kisses- your _affection_ \- might be… Different, from ours. But it is _there_ , and it is _meaningful_. And we can see that, my lily. You do not need to fold yourself into our shape, to fit yourself to our mold. We love you as you _are_.”

Arum finally meets Damien’s gaze then, and the love he sees there is overwhelming, so he simply leans down again, nuzzling his snout into Damien’s cheek, his neck, his chest. Damien laughs again, bright and clear and _happy_ , and his arms come up to wrap around the back of Arum’s neck, stroking gently over his frill. Their love is not _normal_ , nor should it be. Arum is a monster, but he is _their_ monster, and the love they have built between them is _theirs_.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on tumblr @shorter-than-her-tbr-pile


End file.
